Directions for Jonathan Haidt's TED Talks DB Assignment

2 pages

Video 1 : The Moral roots of liberals and conservatives By Jonathan Haidt. (TedTalk)

Video 2 : How common threats can make common(political) ground By Jonathan Haidt. (TedTalk)

I have provided 2 different TED Talks from Professor Jonathon Haidt. I have also provided numerous other websites and TED Talks. I provided these additional resources to you as additional research sites for this class, but also for your future classes and/or profession.

I think the issues discussed in Chapter 5 and by Professor Haidt are critical at this time in our country. Arguably, the popularity of Donald Trump in the 2016 election, and the vote by Great Britain to exit the European Union can be traced back to these issues of plurality and our growing inability to find "common ground" for some of our very important looming issues.

Our country is becoming more and more polarized. You may agree or disagree with what Professor Haidt has to say, but something different about each of his conversations is that at the end of each one he offers some practical ideas that might provide some solutions to bring people back together, so we can at least start to find common ground again.

I think understanding Professor Haidt's main ideas from the first TED Talk leads to a better understanding of the second TED Talk.

Below are some questions for you to think about and answer from the two TED Talks.

Please complete the following questions:

From the first TED Talk:

1. What is one of the main differences as described by Jonathan Haidt of Liberals and Conservatives?

2. What is the irony Professor Haidt points out with regard to the "makeup" of the TED Talk audience?

3. List the 5 foundations of morality Professor Haidt believes we are born with.

4. What are the three foundations of Morality that Professor Haidt believes are at odds between Conservatives and Liberals?

5. According to Professor Haidt, what needs to be implemented or introduced into a larger group in order to get more sharing of common resources?

6. According to Professor Haidt what lesson can be learned from looking at Eastern Religions? In other words, how should we be viewing our differences?

7. Professor Haidt states that we were designed to unite into teams, divide against other teams, and thus we become blinded to the truth. What does he suggest we should do first in order to begin to cultivate "moral humility"?

From the second TED Talk:

Professor Haidt has come up with an analogy of "asteroids" to help us understand our social issues and how political polarization is halting our ability to solve any large policy challenges.

1. What are the 2 liberal "asteroids"? Briefly explain these.

2. What are the 2 conservative "asteroids"? Briefly explain these.

3. During this conversation, Professor Haidt shows several different graphs to demonstrate his points. What do all of these graphs basically have in common?

4. Professor Haidt comes up with three suggestions for beginning to fix the problems of polarization within Congress. List these and briefly explain them.

5. What is an example given by Professor Haidt showing how two seemingly opposite groups have come together?

Summing it all up:

I have asked you these questions above basically like a guided reading exercise to hopefully assist you in parsing out the main ideas of his presentations. Above, I just expected you to answer the questions. For this last question, give me your thoughts.

Do you agree or disagree with any of his assumptions or conclusions? Have you experienced any situations that support his ideas? What do you think about his findings regarding the difference between liberals and conservatives? What do you think of his "asteroid" issues? Do you think there are other big "asteroid" issues that he did not mention? Do you think we might have some local "asteroid" issues we should be addressing?

Do you think any of his ideas could work? Do you have any ideas of your own? How might this information make you a better public administrator?

There is not a minimum word count here. My hope is that you found these talks interesting and thought provoking.

As mentioned above, below these directions are some additional TED Talks and websites (Other than the Professor Haidt Ted Talks) that offer even more interesting ideas, activities, thoughts and suggestions for this issue of finding common ground. Each one offers a slightly different take on this very important issue. Just take a little time and explore. I think the additional TED Talks are very interesting in particular. Again, these additional resources are just there for your general review.